As we come to the end of pride month Jakeb shares his reflections on LGBTQ+ young people in the care system.

I'm going to talk about being LGBTQ+ and being a care experienced person and growing up in the care system. 

Bridge College students participated in nutrition and hydration week to promote wellbeing. Students helped to design activities for the week and led on how to involve their fellow students. They also decided that there would be a theme for each day.

Thanks to funding as part of our Heritage Lottery Funded project ‘The Ever Open Door – 150 years of the Together Trust’, we are looking to produce a film that will document the main outcomes of the project and sit alongside our evaluation report. 

Our specialist mediation and disagreement resolution service brings different parties together to work towards a positive outcome. We run an impartial service offering factual and unbiased information. We create neutral spaces where everyone feels heard and supported. We champion every young person’s voice, making sure their needs and ambitions are at the heart of the conversation.

Our identity and sense of belonging are tied up in the memories of our childhood but for children in care, their records are often the only thing they have to piece together their life story. 

At the Together Trust, we have a substantial archive of records dating right back to 1870 because our founders recognised the significance of keeping records for the young people they cared for. It is part of our DNA to ensure that our care records help people understand their childhood. 

We are proud to announce that we have won a Natspec award for our innovative work in specialist education at Bridge college for introducing robots into the curriculum.

Our Bridge college won the Innovative use of technology award for our ongoing work we’re doing with LuxAI and Association of Colleges.

Children in care that live in unregulated accommodation are only entitled to support, not care. They are expected to fend for themselves with just a few hours of adult support a week. Unregulated accommodation can be a flat, bedsit, hostel or a caravan. At any one time, around 6,000 children aged 16 and 17, looked after by local authorities live in unregulated accommodation.  These are children of compulsory education and training age that the local authority has parental responsibility for. 

On 29^th April Bridge College students took part in an ‘all-college’ Student Parliament meeting via Zoom as part of the Student Voice curriculum.

This event enabled students across the country to meet, discuss and collaborate on topics that are important to them. It was an opportunity to bring the collective Learner Voice to one forum and have their say.

Marie spoke to us about her time in unregulated accommodation before moving to the Together Trust and her experience of moving to independence.